Nelson Mandela Estate Strikes Deal With Writer/Producer Josh Wakely to Create TV Drama Series About the South African Leader’s Life (Exclusive)
Nelson Mandela, the iconic anti-apartheid leader who went from 27 years as a political prisoner to eventually becoming the first president of a free South Africa, will be the subject of the 30-hour scripted TV series “Mandela.” The project is currently the works at writer/producer Josh Wakely’s Grace: A Storytelling Company shingle.
Wakely has secured the TV series life rights to the late Mandela via House of Mandela Entertainment, the media arm of the Mandela estate. Wakely will executive produce and write “Mandela,” along with South African writer/director Kagiso Lediga (“Queen Sono”) and producer Kweku Mandela (who is also Nelson Mandela’s grandson).
The project, which Wakely compares to a multi-season saga in the vein of Netflix’s “The Crown,” will center on Mandela’s life as he was sent to prison while aiming to end apartheid, the system of institutional racism and segregation that was administered in South Africa for generations.
Wakely has secured the TV series life rights to the late Mandela via House of Mandela Entertainment, the media arm of the Mandela estate. Wakely will executive produce and write “Mandela,” along with South African writer/director Kagiso Lediga (“Queen Sono”) and producer Kweku Mandela (who is also Nelson Mandela’s grandson).
The project, which Wakely compares to a multi-season saga in the vein of Netflix’s “The Crown,” will center on Mandela’s life as he was sent to prison while aiming to end apartheid, the system of institutional racism and segregation that was administered in South Africa for generations.
- 3/19/2024
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
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